I headed to Broadway to have lunch here after having an excellent meal previously. I loved the feel of the cafe and the food was delicious. So, I was extremely disappointed when this trip did not live up to my expectations.
We arrived and sat down, started scanning the menu. We had our drinks order taken and then later our food order - no problem! We ordered a toasted sandwich, quiche and salad and a bowl of chunky chips.
We enjoyed passing the time and other tables came in after us. It got to about 25 minutes later and I noticed that 2 tables that came in after us received their food first. It went to about 45 minutes and another 3 tables that arrived after us had been served. I was looking over at the till area to get the attention of staff regularly but felt like eye contact was being avoided. So I went up to the till to ask - it was checked for me and was told that that we were "next up". No apology.
Another 5 minutes, totalling a 50 minute wait, our food arrived! Finally! We don't feel the food we ordered should have taken that long and those who had been served before us had toasted sandwiches, fish cakes etc.
Unfortunately the food wasn't really worth the wait either. My quiche was disappointing in taste and whilst my husbands sandwich wasn't ok, there was nothing to write home about. When you order chunky chips that cost over £3, I expected nice golden, home made style chunky chips. Instead they were just catering chips. Not anymore chunky than the oven ones I have at home.
We didn't finish our meals, paid up and left. I can only think our ticket somehow got lost in the kitchen or the waitress forgot to put it through straight away. But someone coming over to us and apologising if that was the case would have been nice. We were having a nice chilled out afternoon in one of our favourite villages so we wouldn't have minded if someone had the guts to come and tell us there was a problem. Instead we were made to feel like the forgotten ones in the corner and no one, not even the Manager could approach us about it. The cafe only has about 10/11 tables and what looked like 3 waitresses and the manager, therefore a shame not one of them could acknowledge us.
I'm in the industry training industry for hospitality, I genuinely don't mind mistakes happening, I have made them myself but do the right thing and speak to your customers about it. Don't ignore them - trust me, it makes what shouldn't be a problem into a big deal and a bad review!
When all other reviews are so good and my last visit was so good, this must be a one off. But due to that, I unfortunately don't think I will be returning. The excitement that lead me back last time has simply disappeared. If it was handled differently, I may have been back. Such a shame!